So I confess I had yet another affair. It was brief and somewhat unsatisfying and felt slightly dirty yet was still exciting. This time it was with a Feather AS-D2. Oh, there have been others, a couple Merkur sisters and a really beautiful EJ De89LBL and some Viking maiden and an exotic Asian and a period with some of the Schick clan and even some electric rather than acoustic models.

But every time I return home, back to my roots, to the Gillettes. Please don't misunderstand. I am not monogamous. I love all the Gillette family, all the Tech sisters and Super Speed sisters and even the Old and the New as well as the ambiguous Adjustables in the clan.

The Feather AS-D2 was almost as nice as my old Techs but it simply did not feel quite right. I didn't try to keep the affair a secret, they sat side by side in the razor rack and I can only imagine the conversations they had. The Feather was new and young and eager while the Tech was older and more experienced and had been with me for over four decades and had been chosen originally by my father. Even though the Tech was so much older, she just seemed far more nimble and easily reached those difficult spots under my oversize nose, under my ears, around my chin.

So the Feather AS-D2 has been relegated to only occasional playtime and the Gillette family still take precedence in my heart.

With good reason Gillette made the Tech razor until 1988 and even today they sell stamped foreign versions of it overseas, e.g., Sterling, Rubie, etc. It's a "bulletproof" design and I have no problem getting a DFS with one every time I pair it with a top tier blade.

It seems the classics have been largely forgotten on these fora. The Tech was my favorite for several years, before moving on to something just a little bit more aggressive (but still mild). Maybe I should follow your example and spend a little quality time with my old Tech, once again.

Nothing can stop whiskers from growing back every day. Accepting that as reality, we use razors to remove those pesky and relentless whiskers. I've wondered lately whether the new waves of current production DE razors is pushing Gillette razors into oblivion.

Jar, I fully agree with your position. In my case the UK-made Gillette Rocket HD500 is my 100% favorite DE razor because of its outstanding efficiency and substantial mechanical superiority. I thought for a while it might have been the hyper-rare Darwin Deluxe from the 1930s, but I proudly stand behind the Gillette when it comes to using a DE razor.

Who knew that 65 years after the Rocket and 85 years after the Darwin were designed and manufactured, the folks at Colonial Razor would invent the Single Edge General using Feather AC style blades.

When I look at the accumulation of razors (I can't call it a collection since that implies there was at least some thought or planning involved) it is very heavily weighted to Gillette products. Of those, the Super Speed and Techs stand out with by far the largest number of samples. Interestingly, this is also an indication of tastes over time since many of the razors were purchased long before I started shaving and so are indicative of what my father and grandfather enjoyed. The Gillette Techs are the most duplicated with three pre-war fat handle, a post-war fat handle and a post-war ball end. Since they are all from before I was shaving they have to be hand-me-downs.

Baltimore at the time I was growing up was definitely based around ethnic neighborhoods, Jewish and Italian and Black and German and Polish and Russian and Turkish and Asian (all Asians at the time were Chinese regardless of their actual origin; this was too close to the end of WWII to be Japanese) and even a Hawaiian neighborhood (it was still the Territory of Hawaii). The family business was an Insurance Agency that had been around since before the US Civil War and some of the clients were barbershops and jewelers and clothiers in the different neighborhoods and I often got to go with dad when he made the rounds of his clients. Each of the different neighborhoods had its own smell, sounds, tastes and colors; and each was more fascinating to a nine or ten year old than the last. Even today the smell of Tabac takes me back to Germantown, Clubman to the hotels around Mt. Vernon Place and Proraso down to Little Italy.

Recently I found yet another box that had some shaving stuff, several exotics like Rolls razors and Gems and Autostrops as well as empty tins of lanolin and mink oil and shoe polish and a box with shoelaces, brown and black but only one of any given length. The exotics all look like they have had some minimal use and I can't remember ever seeing anyone in the family use them but they are on the list to get cleaned up and at least tried.

One other discovery was a trove of 1944 Gillette camouflage blades and I did give them a try in a period likely New. Had those blades been used by the civilians and politicians the War would have ended years earlier. They drew blood. They pulled out whiskers individually. They SUCKETHED!

What a great read, "jar". Welcome to SMF! Although now I only use SE's, my stable of old Gillettes still have a prominent shelf in my den. No longer used as daily drivers, they remind me of my shaving career experiences. They stand ready to jump in at a moments notice and will have a place in my heart forever.

Hi, I am Sam and I am a ****aholic. It has been 1 year or so since my last DE shave.

In fact, sold my DE and since I grew a beard, got a Harry's 4 blade razor. Nice, but I miss my DE. Now I have to research what new one to get. I even sold my Feather razors and loved how sharp they were so I now have to research that again. Will start a new thread.

Hi, I am Sam and I am a ****aholic. It has been 1 year or so since my last DE shave.

In fact, sold my DE and since I grew a beard, got a Harry's 4 blade razor. Nice, but I miss my DE. Now I have to research what new one to get. I even sold my Feather razors and loved how sharp they were so I now have to research that again. Will start a new thread.

I just finished a comparison of the Feather AS-D2 and one of my old Gillette Techs and the Techs are still out while the Feather is put away.

Hi, I am Sam and I am a ****aholic. It has been 1 year or so since my last DE shave.

In fact, sold my DE and since I grew a beard, got a Harry's 4 blade razor. Nice, but I miss my DE. Now I have to research what new one to get. I even sold my Feather razors and loved how sharp they were so I now have to research that again. Will start a new thread.

Sam, do you prefer not to return to razors you've had in the past? I'll watch for the new thread.

Well I started off with the merkur vision. I've tried a few gillettes but basically it's been merkur products. I had a Merkur regular and a marker open comb before i got the edwin jaeger bulbous.I've tried the feather straight and various straights but I have pretty much from the get go settled on a razor for a long time.